The Nairobi-Thika superhighway is now complete and should be commissioned in three days time. Kenyans have waited patiently and watched with amazement as the once traffic laden dual carriageway transformed into an eight lane superhighway. It’s a two-way six to eight-lane highway attached with side pavements, bicycle lanes, green belt, drainage system, lighting system, road signs and markings, traffic signals, flyovers and underpasses. A look at Thika Superhighway and other roads built by Chinese shows first-class workmanship. The 50.4 km masterwork is spectacular and will remain a permanent monument of the ever improving Sino-Kenya ties. Although several other Chinese companies have undertaken various construction works in Kenya, including the construction of the Moi Sports Center Kasarani, which is a landmark stadium in the country, no other project has brought Chinese construction on the limelight, than the Thika super highway.
The expansion of Thika road, now known as Thika superhighway started about three years ago. The groundbreaking ceremony for the best motorway in East and Central Africa was attended by President Mwai Kibaki in December 2009. There have been delays and challenges owing to the high density of the population, high traffic, underground pipes and drainage networks. Nonetheless, the Chinese companies worked with high efficiency and speed. This road is a great step towards realizing the future dreams of all Kenyans. Challenges associated with traffic snarl-ups and lack of access to markets is now a thing of the past. The road has transformed the landscape in Nairobi and Thika opening up new business opportunities and investments and giving their economies a major boost. It now takes an average of 40 minutes or less to travel between Thika and Nairobi as opposed to 2 hours that it used to take on the same route three years ago; a major boost for traders and industries from both sides as well as workers living and working between the two towns.
The project with the largest amount of investment ever since Kenya’s independence is estimated to have cost around 27 billion Kenya shillings. The African development bank had granted Kenya a loan for the commencement of the project before the Chinese government offered to fund part of the project. The Kenyan government received a concessional loan of 9.44 billion shillings from the Chinese government through the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM). China, especially in the last ten years, has helped the country finance major infrastructure projects through concession loans and grants and Thika superhighway is the latest landmark in the long friendship between China and Africa. However, it is the aspects that come along with this same project that could lead to stronger relations between the government of Kenya, and that of China. All three companies that were awarded the contracts to construct the three sections of the highway are from china. They include, China Wu Yi Company, Shengli Engineering Construction and Synohydro Corporation Ltd. And the works done so far, have marveled Kenyans and left a lasting impression.
Besides building Thika Road, the three Chinese companies, namely China Wu Yi Company, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, and Shengli Engineering Construction, have made valuable contributions in various other fields of Kenya’s social and economic development. They have hired over 4000 Kenyan employees for this single project, considerably alleviating local unemployment. They have trained majority of the local technical workers who will later contribute to Kenya’s future development in their own capacity, especially in the infrastructure area. These companies have been actively involved in various activities for public welfare as well. They took part in the local rescue operations and renovation of houses destroyed by rainstorms; they have consistently conducted their social corporate responsibility by donating money, equipments and goods to local organizations and schools. And most impressively, in September 2011, they joined the “Chinese for Kenya – Relief Food to Turkana Program” by donating cash and food and providing manpower and vehicles to transport the relief food to Turkana.
The Influence of China in project development, especially in the Infrastructure sector is worth commendation. A lot has changed since China became Kenya’s Number one and de facto development partner particularly in the infrastructure sector. In recent years，friendship and cooperation between China and Kenya has improved substantially signifying the mutually beneficial cooperation. The fruitful achievement will serve to reinforce their determination and confidence to expand this cooperation.
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